Time magazine has named “The Silence Breakers” – a representation of women and men who spoke out against sexual harassment and sexual assault – its Person of the Year for 2017. The honour recognizes the ongoing movement, #MeToo, which initiated a global conversation around sexual harassment.
The cover photo of the magazine includes activist Adama Iwu, actress Ashley Judd, singer Taylor Swift, former Uber employee Susan Fowler, strawberry picker Isabel Pascual and a woman from Mexico who had asked to be shown only partially.
“The women and men who have broken their silence span all races, all income classes, all occupations and virtually all corners of the globe,” Time said. “They are part of a movement that has no formal name. But now they have a voice.”
Meanwhile, the crown prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman, won Time’s Person of the Year 2017 online reader poll. The second place in the online reader poll went to the people who shared their experiences of sexual harassment and assault, as part of the #MeToo movement, the magazine said.
Time’s Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal, during an interview on the Today Show, said the #MeToo movement had represented the “fastest-moving social change we have seen in decades, and it began with individual acts of courage by women and some men too”.
In a story about the honour, the magazine said, “The hashtag #MeToo [swiftly adapted into #BalanceTonPorc, #YoTambien, #Ana_kaman and many others], which to date has provided an umbrella of solidarity for millions of people to come forward with their stories, is part of the picture, but not all of it.”
United States President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping were named as the second and third most influential people.
The criteria for the title is a person or a group that has made the most influence on the year’s news for better or worse. In 2016, Trump was named the Person of the Year, while Prime Minister Narendra Modi had won the online reader’s poll for the magazine’s Person of the Year 2016 title. In 2015, German President Angela Merkel had become the first woman in 29 years to have won the honour.
Buy an annual Scroll Membership to support independent journalism and get special benefits.
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!